Today we lost Vicki...she went in doing what she had come to love......I 1st meet Vicki when I was catching students...she stood out because she only half flared and landed fairly hard on her butt a foot off the target....when I asked her why she didnt complete the flare she responded with "I was trying to hit the pretty blue target"...that was her 1st jump.....of course I later reported this to her instructor and of course she was within earshot and came over to defend herself...she really wanted to hit the target.

Well over a year later we had become quite good friends...talking quite often on IM and at the DZ......

Its really hard to know what to say...she was a really cool person....to see her bouncing around out on the landing field after standing it up just made ya smile.....fists clenched....grinning from ear to ear...bouncing around in circles over and over...her love of the sport was contagious......just yeasterday i was on her about getting signed off on packing(she's been a machine lately)...packing student rigs faster and better then most.....but refusing to fill out her sign off sheet..............she just loved being part of the group...and wanting to help out.

I wish patience, understanding and strength to all that knew her and were close to her. You have my deepest sympathies.

Thanks man....Vicki was a avid reader of DZ.com but was too shy to post most of the time...this forum is how we really met...she was always reading and checking profiles looking for someone local to chat with..a PM later....much to her suprise I was able to describe her 1st jump landing experiance ....and hence our online and r/l friendship started.....

She was quiet yet persistent in her desire to become a skydiver....she never gave up...always working to become better at whatever task she was intrested in...enjoying every second of learning...she was a joy to talk to....and shared her enthusiam with anyone that that came close.

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p.s. If you have knowledge of the accident, please add it to the incident forum so we can all learn from it.

dunno what to say man. as you know, i'm from a small east coast dz as well. anyone else anywhere from a small dz knows how tight a family the dz can become. there are owners, but it's usually a very club-like atmosphere, everyone helps out when they can, and you spend a lot of time on weather days just hanging out. everyone knows everyone, and to lose one is like losing a family member.

i feel really upset. I use to talk to viki all the time on the computer about skydiving and going up to jump and probably only met her once or twice. but when i did she was always so happy to jump and such a friendly and positive person to be around.

this is some really bad news.

Blue skies...and my sympathy and condolence's to all her friends and family and everyone who this has effected

Vicky will be more than missed by us all. Never a bad word...never a negative comment. We all have been very lucky to have been blessed by having her be a part of our "skydiving family". She brought smiles to all that she touched. She worked hard and always took great joy in packing chutes, jumping and just being around the DZ. For her I am sure it was an escape from everyday life, a place to just hang out with friends and share the same love of the sport, to talk, to laugh and enjoy life for the moment, to live life to the fullest, as it is for many of us. I will personally miss her smiling face and sense of humor. You could not speak to her for more than a few moments without her some how making a smile appear on your own face before you knew it! I think I speak for us all when I say " she will not be forgotten" by anyone here and she will be deepy deeply missed . How sad a day it is....life is such a fragile thing..... and yet how very lucky we have all been to have spent the time, although far to short, with such a wonderful lady! Fly Free Vicky.......

Never got the chance to meet you Vicki but a piece of my heart is broken to hear this. Fly free in peaceful bliss from now on. May your friends and family take solace in knowing that you truly are free.

I've been in a daze since I heard this terrible news. I spent most of Saturday helping her pack. I think I speak for everyone at the Waterville DZ when I say she was well liked by everyone there. She's the only person I know who would rather pack than jump! It wont be the same without her. Blue skys forever, Vicki....

Fly free now, Vickie. Fly high, fast and free, through endless summer perfect blues, and rest on white puffies. Sing in the sunshine, then, and sail on the winds...

To her family and friends, I am so sorry to hear of her passing. Know that she loved the sky, and that she loved you...and she's never gone. You need only look as far as your heart to see her smile and feel her hugs again. She is not out there anymore, but she is within you, and there shall she live forever.

Hello everyone. I don't know what to write on this forum but I feel I need to say something. I met Vicki at the dropzone a couple of months ago and since then I always smiled whenever she pulled in. She was always so generous and thoughtful. Myself and a couple of others went to dinner with her the night before the accident and spent the rest of the night laughing by the fire and playing her guitar. We were chatting about skydiving stuff right before she got on the plane. The first time I saw her that morning she was walking around passing out coffies to whoever wanted one. We had conversations when she told me how in love with skydiving she was and that her only regret was that she didn't find this place "the dropzone" earlier in life. She found what she truly loved in life and did it. Even if she only had a short time to do what her true passion was, well... she still lived it. That's still better than lots of people who live to be 100. I truly believe that life is infinitely precious and only lasts a moment. Blink and you'll miss it. Do whatever it is in this incredibly short time you have on this earth that makes you truly happy. There is way more to life than just being alive. I will always miss Vicki and think about her whenever I'm hopping out of the plane. She was always happy to be doing anything that had to do with skydiving. There was a great deal of saddness at the dropzone on Sunday and I learned that there are lots of very caring, loving, emotional, and truly good people there. Vicky was part of a great family and so am I. In my heart always Vicki.

I hope the Canadian media isn't painting us (crazy skydivers with our zest for life and all) in a negative light again after this incident. I remember hearing about the inquest in Calgary earlier in the year and I wasn't impressed with what went on there. It was a witch hunt and the media was looking for blood and someone to blame.

I keep meaning to post something here, but I haven't been able to find the words. I still can't; this will have to do instead.

I don't know how anybody can be cheerful all of the time, but somehow Vicki was. She always had a smile and a kind word. I sat next to her at supper on Saturday night and she made me tell her all about my vacation that I had just returned from. She wasn't just being polite; she really wanted to hear every detail. Vicki was like that. Later, sitting around the fire, she brought out her guitar and made me play it. I'm out of practice, it was late, I'd had a few beers, and it definitely showed in my playing, but Vicki loved it anyway, and said so. Vicki was like that. Sunday morning she showed up with as much coffee as she could carry and handed it out to whoever wanted it. Even first jump students who'd never been there before got handed a free coffee. Vicki was like that.

I last saw her just before her jump on Sunday. She was dirt diving, and I went over to give her a couple pointers. I got a dose of her ever-present smile and cheerful personality, and that is how I will remember her - because that is the only way I ever saw her.

I have a verbal confirmation that the funeral will be held on Thursday at 2:00pm at Lyndseys funeral home in the valley. I'm not sure of the address but the obitiuary should be out tomorrow, if not call me or Dave for the address.